Line of Duty
by Terri B
Summary: Officer Dick Grayson fires in the line of duty (crossover with Highlander universe)
1. Line of Duty Chapter One

Disclaimer: Batman, Nightwing, etc are property of DC Comics.   
  
This kind of (but not really) goes along with my "Richard Be Thy Name" series. It is a crossover involving the worlds of Batman and Highlander.  
  
  
Dick stood still as Captain Moseby read through the report. His expression was stalwart and calm but his insides were burning.   
  
"Well Grayson" Moseby finally said. "It looks like everything is in order, the case is clear cut defense in the line of duty."  
  
Dick nodded barely, his thoughts almost incoherent at this point.   
  
"Are you okay son? It's always hard to have to aim and shoot knowing that one of you isn't going to make it. Take a couple days off. You're free to see the psychologist and get your head together before coming back to shift."  
  
"I don't need any time." Dick said defiantly. In his hands he held his gun and badge and then placed them quietly on the desk.  
  
"Grayson." Captain Moseby sighed. "This is nothing to quit over. You may be a rookie but you're one of the best I got here. A year or two and you'll be doing my job."  
  
"This was wrong. He was just a kid."  
  
"A kid with a semi automatic weapon."  
  
"A kid." Dick repeated before walking out of the captain's office and to the locker room. He changed into his street clothes quickly, leaving his uniform crumpled in the now empty locker. He stared at the locker with his nameplate on the door. He was so enraged that he could do this to another person, that he had taken a life. He kicked at the thin metallic door and hit it hard until it was one big dent, the name unrecognizable. He stood there, his head resting against the frame, gasping for breath. And at that moment everything became clear to him and he headed off without another word.  
  
Dick became a cop so he could make Bludhaven a safe place much like his mentor in Gotham. He passed through the academy with flying colors, passing up many chances and invitations to join Special Forces. He even excelled at the gun range, being handed a small handgun with his badge. But even though he carried the gun on duty and he knew how to aim and fire, he had never in his life intended to use it.   
  
It was a textbook robbery, a convenience store on the west side. Dick and his partner, Amy, were sent to deal with it. Amy reasoned with the assailant, a fifteen year old with a gun, while Dick found a way in through the back. He didn't expect there to be so many hostages nor did he expect the kid with the gun to be so eager to shoot. The kid turned at the wrong second and saw Dick coming from behind, his gun aimed quickly at him. Dick's gun was pulled as well and the stand off lasted for what seemed hours before the kid flinched and Dick fired. All it took was one shot through the heart. Dick would never forget the moment for the rest of his life; the way the kid's eyes glazed over and the life oozed out of him. He just kneeled there in total shock while those around him practically cheered for their savior.  
  
Dick Grayson had nowhere to go. He couldn't go home for the fear of being tracked down by his fellow police officers or worse off, Oracle, and he couldn't go to Gotham because he did not want to face HIM. Dick was utterly ashamed for his actions. He couldn't conceive of what Batman would think of him after he found out. He didn't even want to imagine. He just wanted to disappear. So without extra money, clothes, or vehicle he walked to the highway going out of town and hitched a ride west, as far away from his life as possible.  
  



	2. Chapter Two

###I just started reading Nightwing so I don't have the names of some of the cops down yet (I made a few up...bear with me)  
  
  
Barbara Gordon, Oracle to most superheroes, Babs to her friends, was doing her nightly rounds in the cyber world, spin control, as she called it. She hated to be affiliated with people who sat around listening to police scanners for kicks but hey, it's a living. She was, however, getting pretty fed up with the incessant crunching going on next to her.  
  
"Quit it." She growled at Robin, who was munching on chips next to her.  
  
"Hey I'm a growing kid. I need sustenance." Tim answered, popping another handful of cheetos in his mouth.   
  
"What are you doing here anyway?" She sighed, staring at the orange fingerprints all over the extra keyboard.  
  
"I'm meeting Nightwing. We're supposed to scope out the Diamond District tonight for the big guy. Come to think of it little Dicky's late."  
  
"Maybe he ran into some trouble in Bludhaven." Babs reasoned. She figured she should check the police records just to be safe.  
  
"Last time he was late it was because he met some cute girl and took her to a movie. Yeah that's right no one cares about Tim Drake when there are women to talk to."  
  
Barbara whapped him playfully in the shoulder but her smile turned suddenly when she noticed the newest story to be picked up in Bludhaven Police files.  
  
"Oh my God." She said shakily. Tim stared over her shoulder. He turned pale as he read the report. Barbara was already dialing the phone. She hoped Dick would be there but swore under her breath as the machine came on. She hung up the phone and sighed nervously.  
  
"Not home?" Tim asked.  
  
"No." She said quietly.  
  
"What do we do?"  
  
"I guess one of us tells Batman."  
  
Bruce was still in bed when the phone began to ring. He stared at the clock next to his bed that read 7:30. He sat up quickly at the sight of how late it was swearing to himself that he needed an alarm without a snooze button and grabbed the phone.  
  
"Hello?"  
  
"Bruce? Were you still sleeping?" Barbara asked in surprise.  
  
"No." He lied. "What is it?"  
  
"Has Dick been to see you?" She asked in a tone Bruce couldn't decipher in his groggy state.  
  
"Not lately why?"  
  
"I just found a report out of Bludhaven. It says Dick and his partner were dispatched to a hold up at a convenience store this afternoon."  
  
"Is he alright?" Bruce cut in sharply.  
  
"From what I can tell. But the kid who attempted the robbery is dead...they..." Barbara couldn't even believe what she's was saying. "They list Dick as the shooter."  
  
Bruce's eyes shut tight as if hearing the shot go off in his head. "Have you spoken to him?"  
  
"Dick's not at home. Robin is here. I can send him to Bludhaven to look for him."  
  
"No." Bruce answered gravely. "I'll go. Tell Tim to go to the Diamond District and work on the case we discussed."  
  
Bruce hung up the phone and was speeding off in the car towards Bludhaven minutes later.  



	3. Chapter Three

Dick had never thought of himself as "soft". He was Nightwing for goodness sakes, but some of the psychos he rode with were beginning to make him think twice about hitching. With one guy, he could have sworn he heard noises coming from the trunk of the car. There was one who would only talk to Dick through the use of a sock puppet on his right hand. Another argued with him about the recent Presidential election and nearly pulled a gun when Dick mentioned his disgust for Lex Luthor. There were nice ones too. Dick rode over four hours with an elderly woman who talked nonstop about her grandchildren. He wasn't in the mood for a conversation of any sort but it was comforting in a way to hear that at least someone was having a happy life.  
  
Dick was convinced that by hitching cross-country, Batman and the others would have a harder time finding him. He knew, however, that the 'greatest detective on earth' would catch up sooner or later. He waited at yet another rest stop for someone willing to take him another hundred miles. It had been two days since what he affectionately calls "the mistake". He traveled over a thousand miles yet he was nowhere closer to a solution. Dick was exhausted from the constant traveling; he was dirty, hungry, and worst of all out of money. He sat at the rest stop all night shivering from cold, half wishing that Batman would pull up in the car, stare at him the way a father does to a disobedient son and take him back to Gotham. By morning he had his mind made up to finally call home. He searched his coat for any change that he might have forgotten about. He found the change but surrounding it was a fortune from a fortune cookie. He smiled softly as he read the fortune.  
  
"May your life be blessed with strength and clarity [in bed]". Scrawled on the back of the fortune was a number with the name "Richie, Seacouver USA" underneath.  
  
Dick wasn't what one would consider a spiritual person but he took this as a sign and instead of calling Babs he dialed the number on the slip of paper. It rang several times before he heard a sleepy and annoyed voice cross the line.  
  
"Hello?" The person sighed.  
  
"Richie?" Dick said. "Richie Ryan?"  
  
"Yeah." He groaned.  
  
"It's Dick Grayson." He said brightly.  
  
"Dick? It's 5:30 in the morning." Richie sounded less than amused to hear from his old friend.  
  
"I know I'm sorry but I'm on the road and I need a favor."  
  
Richie sat up staring hazily at the strange room and woman he was with. "Dick it's been like three years. Last I heard you were a bartender."  
  
"Two jobs ago. Look Richie I need you to wire me some money."  
  
"You're kidding." Richie answered.  
  
"Oh come on you know I'm good for it."  
  
"Since when do I have money?"  
  
"Look I'm out in the middle of nowhere and I have nothing to live on."  
  
Richie sighed. "Ok where are you?"  
  
"Outside of Jackson, Mississippi on I-20." Dick answered after staring around quickly for a road sign.  
  
"OK uh...I'm in New Orleans. I could meet you in Baton Rouge in two hours."  
  
"Ok I'll try." Dick answered.  
  
"What do you mean you'll try? Where's this bike you've told me so much about?"  
  
"I've been hitching the last few days. It's sort of a long story."  
  
"Ok fine stay where you are and I'll pick you up in a few hours."  
  
"Ok Wait...Why are you in New Orleans?" He could hear a woman in the background.  
  
"Mardi Gras." Richie answered.  
  
"Mardi Gras was over a month ago."  
  
"I got a little sidetracked. I'll see you in a bit."  
  
Dick hung up the pay phone and sat on the curb, waiting for Richie to pick him up, hoping he didn't find something better to do on the way to pick him up.  



	4. Chapter Four

Batman sped into the city limits of Bludhaven just after dusk. He parked the car in the alley behind Dick's loft and searched the place. Everything was in order and the suit was still hanging in the hidden wall compartment. Batman also noted that both of the bikes were there as were all of Dick's clothes. For all his stuff being there, Batman saw no sign of Dick returning from work that afternoon. He climbed to the windows overhead, shot a line out and headed towards the police station.  
  
Captain Moseby's office was a good five stories off the ground. Batman was perched out on the ledge, listening for anything that might tip off the whereabouts of Dick. With binoculars he read a resignation report the captain had written up. His heart sank when he saw Dick's name on top. He assumed the gun and badge on the desk were his as well. He jumped off the ledge to the alley below and proceeded to quickly dress in a police outfit he kept hidden in a panel at the base of the building. He tried not to step on Nightwing's hold on Bludhaven but once in a while he just needed to make sure his son was safe. Dick almost caught him once, stared him right in eye as they passed each other in the station. Fortunately for Bruce, Dick had Amy pulling him along so the kid didn't have time to recognize his mentor.  
  
A pair of glasses and a mustache kept the handsome features of Bruce Wayne disguised as he walked into the Police Station, just another beat cop returning from rounds. He headed to the locker room where several of Dick's peers were just getting off their shift. A woman was sitting dejectedly on a bench close to the lockers. She looked tired and upset, massaging her temples, wishing away the headache she's had since that afternoon.   
  
"He'll be back Amy." One cop tried to reassure her. "This happens to all rookies the first time they have to shoot someone."  
  
"You should have seen his face." Amy answered in a daze. "I've never seen someone look so lost before." She wiped the forming tears in her eyes and noticed a new guy hanging around in the room. "You! I don't know you." Amy snapped out of the tearful phase and back into her rough exterior. Batman, disguised in a cop's uniform, disarmed her hesitance with a smile.  
  
"Just transferred in from the west precinct." He answered in a New York accent. "This Grayson guy...he a friend of yours?"  
  
"He's my partner. What do you know about it?" Amy stared the stranger in the eyes. She was tenacious, he had to give her that.  
  
"I don't even know the guy. We're just supposed to be on the lookout tonight that's all."  
  
"Yeah well if you find him tell him his partner is going to kick his ass when he finally comes to his senses." She spat.  
  
"Did you see him after he quit?"  
  
"Just in passing. He wasn't in the talking mood. He was already dressed in street clothes. I offered to give him a ride home but he said he'd rather walk."  
  
"Which way did he walk?"  
  
"East on Smith." She answered but her brain was telling her something was wrong with that statement. "But...he lives west of here." She answered slowly.  
  
"Well I'm sure we'll find him." The cop nodded with a comforting smile. Amy nodded and left with all the other guys. The locker room was empty so Batman took this opportunity to search Dick's locker...or what was left of it. The door was dented almost into the inside wall. He pried the door open to find his wrinkled uniform lying in a heap. The shirt had tiny stains of blood where he must have tried to revive the person he shot.  
  
He left the police station with fewer answers than he had hoped for. Dick had left the precinct and traveled east on foot. Batman called for the car and changed back into the cape and cowl while he waited. He drove east for several miles hoping to get a clue as to where Dick might have gone. About four miles down the road there was an exit to the highway leading out of Bludhaven. Dick could have easily been anywhere: in a bar drinking away the pain, bleeding to death in an alley, or on his way to Gotham. For some reason Batman knew he wasn't in Gotham or Bludhaven that instead he had gotten a ride out of town and was in effect running to God knows where.  
  
The COM link in the car buzzed. Batman was already heading onto the highway.  
  
"Oracle." He answered.  
  
"Did you find him?"  
  
"He quit the BPD. I think he hitched a ride out of town. Put a tracer on his credit cards."  
  
"How far do you think he'll go?"  
  
"I don't know." Batman admitted quietly. "I don't think he has anyone or anything to go to."  
  
"So we just sit and wait for him to come home. He's not going to use the cards if he doesn't want us to find him. He's smarter than that."  
  
"I'm driving west for a few hours. Tell Robin and Batgirl to go on rounds in Gotham and then to do a search of Bludhaven just in case."  
  
"Got it." Oracle answered.  
  
Batman ended the link and continued to speed down the highway in hopes to find some sign of Dick Grayson.   
  
  
  



End file.
